Claws of Kai
by SoaringGryphonProductions
Summary: Kai is a Saurophaganax, and one of the few meat-eaters accepted into the herd because she defends the river while the herds drink, feeding off fish and the occasional crocodile. Kron and Bruton won't let her travel with the herd. Now she has to make her own way to the Nesting Grounds.
1. Chapter 1

**Dinosaur: Claws of Kai**

 **Chapter 1: Know Your Place**

Everyone is afraid of a dinosaur like me. Watch as I stroll around to the river as herds scatter, and run for safety. You may think that one of my kind doesn't have a heart, but I do. I'm not mindless hunter who only thinks about meat. I don't want to be that one that someone has to blame for killing their family or children. I am not a monster.

My name is Kai. I am a Saurophaganax. That's a really long name for sharp claws and a mouthful of teeth. I am hunter, but I prefer a different kind meat that is easier to catch, and at the same time keep the other herds safe. I prefer fish. There are worse things for herds to worry about than a dinosaur like me, and they come from the water.

I have to keep my eyes open to anyone that goes to the river, "I don't think so!" I roared as I clamped my jaws and sharp teeth down on the neck of a Deinosuchus. Trust me, that is a predator that is much worse than me. If that crocodile grabs you, it's all over. This way, the herd stays safe, and I get a meal, and Kron still doesn't like me.

"I have my eye on you, Meat-Eater, I know your kind, it's only sheer dumb luck that you fond your place among us, don't let it get to your head," Kron snarled, and went back to his herd. I ignored him, and went back to my meal pulling it from the water. There was enough meat to fill me for a few days. I was one of the few meat-eaters left.

It was more like one of the few meat-eaters that found a place among the herd. Even then, the others are still weary of me. Still, I have friends by my side, "I know, it's hard for you to not wanna stick those claws and teeth into his hide, but you best be thankful he keeps you around," said Eema, one of the few who accepted me for who I am,

"Why bother? There's no point in eating meat that's bitter," I snarled, taking another bite out of my kill. Things all changed when those lights came from the sky, and turned this lush world into a desert. Kron and Bruton were the ones in charge of the herd. The goal is to get everyone to the Nesting Grounds, but there were exceptions to the goal.

"No Kai, I cannot and will not allow you to travel with us to the Nesting Grounds, you know what you are, you are a danger to the safety of this herd!" scolded Bruton,

"How can you say that?!" accused Neera, another friend of mine, a very good one, "if it wasn't for her, who knows how many of the herd would've been eaten by crocodiles! Please, I ask that you reconsider, she's my friend, and she has been doing her duty to protect the herd," I looked at him in the eyes. He looked back, snarling at the thought.

"Fine, she can join the herd...when she gets to the Nesting Grounds on her own, I'm sure she can find her own way there," He replied, and shocked Neera with her words. She protested, but I stopped her. As the words of the wise ones say 'all roads lead to the Nesting Grounds'. I knew I could find my way to there. I know now to get around.

"Don't worry about me, Neera, I'll get there on my own," I said, and I began my journey by my lonesome in the desert. Kron was sending me to my death, but I cannot let thoughts of revenge drive me. I did not want to hurt anyone. What drove me was the promise of finding a new land to settle down in, and I know my place among the others.

The meat from that crocodile will give me enough energy for a portion of the journey. There is no way I would travel with Carnotaurs. Some are cruel enough to eat their own kind, "You have to excuse Kron, he is just doing what he feels is best for the herd, even if some of us do not necessarily agree with him," said Baylene, a wise Brachiosaurus.

"Ain't that the truth," I grumbled, and started my journey once my meal was reduced to bones, "I'll see you in the Nesting Grounds...hopefully" I said, getting a last look at Neera before setting off. I got well wishes from Baylene and Eema. I will make it, and I'm up to the challenge. I am not going to let Kron's or Bruton's words weigh me down.

"You have to leave one day after the herds leave, I don't want you getting any bright ideas, Kai," Kron instructed to me. I had no choice but to obey. Everyone of those herd members has a weapon that can kill me easily and they have numbers as well. So here I am now, all alone in the desert. The sun is unrelenting as it beats down on my back.

I cannot be a member of the herd, but I can at least follow the trail. With a thirst growing, "Oh! Some water at last," I sighed, and took a drink after the march,

An oviraptor happened to stumble my way, and was my meal for the evening. The meat is a bit stringy, but it will give me the energy I need and one less problem for the migrating herds. I rested for the night on a mountain near the dried up riverbed, I heard the footsteps of a big threat, " _That's not good_ ," I thought, and roared to warn them.

I have to eat fast so these baddies don't get a chance to steal my meal no matter how small it is. The problem is for us meat-eaters is that our roars sound identical. So even if Kron or Bruton think it's a Carnotaur, it doesn't matter. It will still give them time to run. I am a meat-eater, and what some would call a traitor. I have my own reasoning.

I have good friends like Neera, Eema, and Baylene. I don't want to see any of them or any other member of the herd getting hurt or worse, eaten. I fought them off my meal by jaws, teeth, and strength. Seeing that they won't be getting my meal, it presented me with a problem, and them with another option. Now they are going after the herds.


	2. Chapter 2

**Dinosaur: Claws of Kai**

 **Chapter 2: Scavenger**

The trail is long with many a mountain to climb. The sun is unforgiving on my back, and the nights are cold. Food is scarce, but still I follow were the herd goes. I came down to the riverbed, "Finally, some luck," I said to myself, my breathing is heavy and my thirst has been quenched for the first time. I still needed food. Good luck finding that.

With some river water in my belly, I decided to sniff around for some food. There wasn't a scent for miles. I kept moving. I had to push forward or die. The thing is, I didn't expect to get some passengers along the way. I came across the carcass of one that did not make it. Judging by the claw and teeth wounds, they came from a Carnotaurus.

Just as I was taking some bites of meat, two others came out from the rocks. They were Megaraptors, two of them and they are not known for sharing, "Claws and teeth off, that's ours!" said one of them with a threatening roar. I roared back, and stood my ground in the riverbed, "give it up, it's two on one, you ain't gotta chance," she taunted.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, they attacked from my rear and from the front. Their teeth bit into my back, and their claws left a wound on my belly. I soon managed to get a bite on one of them by the neck, and threw her off my back and into her friend. Or at least I think it's her friend, "Back off! This is my meal!" I snarled back,

"Not a chance, sister!" one barked back,

"The sun must've made you crazy if you think we're giving up!" taunted the other, I turned on the rage, and swiped on of them aside with my tail and held down the others with a foot and my jaws on her neck, "alright...alright, it's yours!" she pleaded, and the two of them went on their way to go find something else to eat. I felt pity for them.

"Wait," I called out of them as they were leaving. I sighed seeing that these two are no different than me, "look, I'm thinking you all are going with the herd, so come...fill your bellies," they looked at each other and took up my offer. It makes me happy to know that I help out others on the same journey as me, "by the way, my name's Kai,"

"I'm called Kiku," said one of the Megaraptors

"And I'm Sica," said the other, "we're sisters,"

"It is good to see a few keeping together away from the nest," I replied, I felt it was time to move on after eating my fill of meat. I looked back at them, and felt it was the right thing to do. We stand a better chance of survival if we work together. There are bigger predators out there, "come on, we have a long way to go over the mountains"

"Wait, you want us to go with you? We tried to kill you!" Sica protested, I looked back at her and kept moving on. Desperate times call for desperate needs for survival. They only wanted something to eat. They looked at each other, and seemed to agree on following me, "So...Kai is it? Where're we going?" she asked as we crossed the dry riverbed

"The same place everyone else is, we follow the herds," I replied, I soon noticed the trails were getting steeper. The truth was that on these long journeys is that not everyone is going to make it alive. Hopefully the carcass will give us enough meat until we get to the herd. I know I will have to teach these two my ways should they stay at my side.

Kiku was first to make some conversation to help the journey along, "So I heard from the Carnotaurs that you lived among the herds," said the Megaraptor, "and boy did they have things to say about you, you must've been quite the toothache from them," it's true, some carnivores say if you want to see what a traitor looks like. They all look at me.

"I'll take that as a compliment," I sassed back, "Kron seemed to have found a use for me when I first came to the herd, I think he hated me more than the Carnotaurs did to be honest, it was my task to protect the riverbed while the herds got a drink, trust me, you might be able to shake off my claws and teeth, when a croc gets you, you're done"

"That's true, I've seen that happen Carnotaurs at the river, once a croc gets a hold of you, there's no going back," said Sica as a shiver went down her back,

"Still...you protect the herd at the river and you get a meal, sounds pretty reasonable to me," said Kiku, Sica nodded in agreement, "that Kron sounds like a piece of work,"

"You have no idea how many times I wanted to rip his face off, the only thing that keeps me from doing that is that...Kron's sister is a friend of mine, she convinced him that I could be of some good for the herd, I think I could use some help when we reach the Nesting Grounds," I explained to them, I'm starting to think that they're getting the idea.

"I have only one rule: you don't eat the members of the herd" I said to them, "know this, should you decide to help me, it is our task to protect the herd at the river and during the nesting times, it doesn't matter what the other carnivores say, it doesn't matter if they call you names, even our kind can do a lot of good, do you understand me?"

The trails are very long, and my aching feet aren't that easy to ignore. It seems the trails claimed a victim. It was an Oviraptor. I used my jaws to pull him behind some boulders where Kiku and Sica were resting, "That's all you could get, Kai?" Sica asked, I nodded 'yes', "hmmm...really slim pickins' around here," I let them eat their fills first.

"Oh sure, a triceratops is going to come right at us and say 'eat me'," Kiku said sarcastically, and Sica did not like that. They growled at each other and wrestled while I rested my feet. They truly are sisters. They saved me a leg and the tail. It goes to show that carnivores can be kind to one another. Our task is simple: we must follow the footprints.


	3. Chapter 3

**Dinosaur: Claws of Kai**

 **Chapter 3: Challenges and Challengers**

All it took was a carcass. A single carcass brought these two raptors along for the trip. Still, I thought about my friends in the herd: Neera, Baylene and Eema. I know they are going through the same challenges as us. With Kron and Bruton leading the herd, it might as well be just as challenging to keep moving as it is to get along with them.

I thought I was going to be traveling alone, but now I have Kiku and Sica for company. In a way it is a blessing since now I have two students to teach my ways to. Wherever the herd travels, we follow the footprints and the scent. We had gotten used to the scent trail of the herd, but something was wrong, "Do you smell it?" Sica said to me.

"I do, Carnotaurs, they must've picked up the herd's scent too," I replied keeping my voice down,

"If they want the herd, they're going to have to go through us first," said Kiku, the three of us nodded in agreement. I felt like I was part of the family of these two raptors, "I've got it, we'll hold them off so herd has time to get moving, with herds this big there are bound to be stragglers, it might give us a chance to prove our worth to the herd,"

We peered our heads over the boulders of our resting site, and saw two Carnotaurs on the hunt, "Eema, Baylene," I said to myself seeing the two of them in great danger. I nodded to the two sisters, it was time to move and time to take action. I ran down the trail to the two Carnotaurs. The sisters leaped off the rocks, and ran alongside me.

Baylene got quite the surprise, "It's Kai, I knew she would make it," said the Brachiosaurus

"And she's got friends," said Eema, we ran passed them and confronted the two enemies. We stood our ground, and roared at the two Carnotaurs. They knew who I was, and of my reputation. I am quite the thorn in their bellies. The two of them did not seem to pleased to see me. Other than Kiku and Sica, I don't I have any carnivorous friends.

"Well, well, if it isn't Kai, tell us, what's it like to betray your own kind?" one of the Carnotaurs snarled as they circled me and the Megaraptor sisters, "you're a disgrace to all of us, and now you've taken two others down with you," they attacked from the side. I got a bite the side of my leg, and I head-butted him off. I retaliated with my claws.

"Ugh, you're a whole pack of ugly!" taunted Sica, and leaped onto the back of the other using her large claws to rip into her back,

"Insect!" she snarled. I used my claws and my teeth slash at the male, putting a nasty scar over his right eye, and a bite into the top of his neck. The great thing about our kind is that we have usable arms. Kiku and Sica used that advantage to bring down the female, "you and your friends can protect them all you like, you'll never be one of us!"

"We don't have to be," said Kiku as she and her sister pinned her down, and looked her straight in the eye with threatening growls, "you pull a stunt a like that again...and these claws and teeth will be the last thing you see, now beat it!" the two Carnotaurs were left to run away with their tails between their legs, "you ladies alright?" she asked,

"You can say that, thanks for saving our tails back there," said Eema thankfully, Url not so much, "you'll have to excuse him, he ain't used to this kind of thing,"

I nodded in understanding, "You ladies best stay with us, Bruton and Kron don't know you're alive," said Baylene, that is when it hit me. Kron probably thought that rock from the sky would kill me. Yet here I am, and I've brought some company. For now, the three of us were to watch over my friends in the herd with a few monkeys on their backs.

"Outstanding," I grumbled, and yet I will not kill him. I don't want the rest of the herds to look at me and my new friends as savages. Yet I have never seen anything like the creatures riding on Eema's back, "well, well, hello there," I said to them. I expected them to see me as a threat. How many carnivores do you know come up and say hello?

"Back off, Monster!" said the elder of the group named Yar,

"My name is NOT monster, I have a name, Old One, and my name's Kai," I said back, "these are my friends, Kiku and Sica," they both snarled at the odd looking creatures riding on Eema's back, "back 'em down, ladies, I'm sure he meant no harm with his words," I said to them, and they claimed down and walked alongside a few of my friends.

"So these meatheads have names now? That's new," said another hairball whom I heard was called Zini, I ignored it and kept moving alongside the others. I soon realized there were others I was going to have to convince. It is no easy task to convince the herbivores that is carnivores can do good alongside them. Still, I am up to the challenge.

They're more used to running away from us than working with us, "Who're you calling meathead? I should call you a late night snack," said Sica,

"What's going on here?" asked a Spike-Thumb whom immediately looked at my friends and I threats, "what do you think you're doing, go find your own herd!" he demanded, where's Neera when you need her? I stood my ground with a snarl, and flash of my teeth while he bellowed and stood his, "I am only going to say this once to you, LEAVE!"

I am thinking that he came as part of the migration to the Nesting Grounds. His heart is very strong, and his intentions are noble. I looked back at Eema and Baylene. The Megaraptors Kiku and Sica were at my side, and I looked back at him. What those sisters did was very touching. They really are my friends. I only had one word for him, "No"

 **(Note: The voice actors are as follows: Kai the Saurophaganax: Charlize Theron, Kiku and Sica the Megaraptors: Kerry Washington and Lupita Nyongo)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Dinosaur: Claws of Kai**

 **Chapter 4: Footsteps**

I was in the middle of a standoff with the Spike-Thumb, "What did you say?" he asked, by the tone of his voice he was getting more agitated or does he not like the fact that we carnivores can talk? I am trying to be kind to the little ones on Eema's back, but it seems those that are bigger need more convincing. It's my claws and teeth, isn't it?

"You heard me, I said...no," I repeated myself with Kiku and Sica standing their ground with me,

"We traveled too far and for too long to turn back now," said Sica,

"Please Aladar, let them stay with the herd, I've known Kai since she first hatched and let me tell you there's no better pair of claws and teeth out there that you'd want watching your back," said Eema, I could tell by his eyes that he doesn't trust me. After all, I'm a carnivore. The only thing I think about is my next meal. You keep thinking that.

"I'll have my eye on you," Aladar snarled, getting in my face,

"That's very sweet of you," I replied, staying to the back of the herd,

I watched Aladar go back to the front of the herd. This is a rather large herd, and it looks like my friends and I are in the back. There are much worse things out there than us that would want to make a meal out of anyone here. As I walked alongside Baylene, Eema, and Url, it seemed the interest in the lemurs was peaked by one named Suri.

"Wow, what big teeth you have, Kai," said Suri, looking ready to touch one,

"What's you think you're doing, Suri?! That one's dangerous, all her kind are!" scolded Yar,

"I don't know, something tells me these three are different from those Carnotaur things," said another lemur named Plio, leaping onto my back, and found her way into my mouth but I will not eat her. Plio touched the tip of one of my teeth with a finger, "Ouch! Sharp as a thorn bush, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of these things," she said,

Plio climbed out of my mouth and onto my back, "The better to protect my hide...and yours," I replied,

"Like anyone's gonna believe that," said Yar, still not convinced,

Suri's curiosity seemed peaked as she was getting on the back of Kiku, and leaping back and forth between her and Sica. All good for a little chuckle here, and there, "Wow, these claws are as big as me," said Suri, if I can trust Kiku and Sica to work with me toward getting toward the Nesting Grounds, then I can trust them to be gentle with them.

"Yep, other carnivores out there call us, Moon-Claws," said Kiku,

"Now, if only we can convince Aladar to trust us," pondered Sica,

"In time, child, such things take time," said Baylene, that night as the hard was resting, I had a look around with Kiku and Sica before we decided to rest. To think that the Nesting Grounds are not far from here, and that something so precious can grow in these flat wastelands. If there is any form of luck on our side, we found ourselves a meal.

"It's a Branch-Reaper (Therazinosaurus), I don't remember seeing this one in the herd," whispered Kiku

"Must've followed the trail, looks like thirst did this one in," I replied quietly,

"It's fresh too, a meal's a meal," said Sica, and we feasted on the carcass. This would keep us fed for a while, and kept our spirits a little higher. We cleaned the carcass to the bones, and rested with the herd. At first light, it was back up and getting a move on. With a herd so vast, I wonder if my friend Neera even knows I'm here? Probably not.

"I heard some commotion last night from the back of the herd," said Aladar,

"We found a Branch-Reaper following the trail, it was a loner...it didn't make it, thirst did it in," I explained to him,

The look in his eyes said otherwise. Like he's really going to believe the word of a meat-eater, "A likely story," he sneered, Aladar may not believe us but we stood by our word as it is the truth. We fought off Carnotaurs, got a meal here and there, one would think we have earned our place among the others. But no, it's still back of the herd for us.

"Back of the herd he says, it's always the back of the herd," sighed Kiku,

"Look at it this way, a Carnotaur is always going to attack here first," said Sica,

"You never know what a Carnotaur will do to survive, keep your eyes open you two," I instructed to them, we're the last at the end of the herd and the last to get a drink. The good thing is it seems what Aladar taught the others on how to find water works with us meat-eaters too. Sica seemed to have something on her mind, "what's wrong, Sica?"

"I look at my footprint in the dirt, and I see no difference between us and them," Sica replied,

"We're part of this world, Kai," said Kiku, "we have little ones walking around us, we have the lemurs, we won't eat them,"

"Yet," said Yar listening in on our talk, the three of us glared at him, and looked away. I gave Kiku and Sica a wink. I had an idea to hopefully convince him that I am not so bad. I nudged him off of Baylene with my snout, "wait...what're you doing? You get that mouth full of teeth away from me! You're not turning me into a snack!" he protested,

"No, I'm not going to eat you, I'm letting you ride on me for a bit of the trip," I replied, being as gentle as I could with him

"Hey...this...this isn't so bad," he replied, it took time but it looks like things are looking up, "I guess I was wrong about you,"

"So much for a nasty meat-eater?" I said as he crawled on my back, looking for just the right spot. Soon I had Zini and Plio on my back while Suri was talking with Kiku and Sica. Soon I smelled something off in the distance. Something did not feel right about this, "Yar, Plio, I need for you to get back on Baylene, Suri you too, something's coming,"


End file.
